Friday, Week 2.

We're finishing up our second week of our 21st year of homeschooling. So far, we've had a few good days, one or two near perfect ones, and a couple of those that come every so often where I look up and think, "Remind me why we're doing this?"

And then there are the moments that wash over me as I remember that I have no more little ones to teach. . .at least not ones for whom I bear the primary responsibility. I'll never again teach a first-grader to read, never explain long division to a third-grader, never hold the hand of a little one trying to write a "B" between the lines. . . .There's a sadness there, and yet a sense of completion as I teach each "grade" for the last time. An experience with a true taste of the bitter and the sweet all in one mouthful.

Adding, though, to the "sweet" is the fact that already two of my daughters, homeschooled themselves and so fully aware of the joys AND the pitfalls, have given me the opportunity to walk alongside them as they begin the strenuous journey of teaching their little ones. Good thing, too, because there are some things I feel like I'm just now, in my third decade on this road, getting good at! I'm glad they're not letting my experiences go to waste. What a joy to see them setting their faces toward the same goals that we did and walking straight toward those goals, even on the "Remind me?" days. And what a privilege to help them as we go. . .sharing books, sharing ideas about how to teach multiplication tables, sharing field trips and co-ops, sharing the exhaustion that is part and parcel of this life.

So. . .this week I praise and seek help from

O God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come. . .